I have a bag of Wickes Charcoal grout which I was going to use for my quarry tiles. It is unopened but has been in my shed for about 5 years. I can not find any trace of a date of expiry or anything on it. It is not flexi and is cement based. I have just opened it and it is still in nice condition - no lumps or hard bits in the bag and the colour is still dark.

Before I go ahead should I be worried. I know grouts these days have a shelf life but does grout really go out of date or is this just a modern self protection thing on the part of the suppliers.

Cheers guys

The polymers can deteriorate over time. I would be reluctant to use it after 5 years personally. Ultracolor Plus has a shelf life of 2 years if unopend and I think BAL products are generally a year. I wouldn't risk it.

Stick it in the bin Al, not worth the risk, As a TA on the forum you will get your discount from Tilegiant, only be a few quid mate. ( hope you have one close by )

Could be a bit lumpy at that age

bin it for sure

Bin it without a second thought mate

AT the end of the day it might cost you about £12 quids to replace the grout but what would it cost you to replace it if you use it and it fails All that raking out, all the dust, all the crying into your water bucket, not to mention the possible damage to the tiles when removing the knackered grout

Wickes! It was out of date when it was made

Ajax - Charcoal grout for Quarry tiles?
Do a test area first ( with your old grout if necessary) to see if it stains them!
Some quarries although low porosity have pinholes which accept the grout.
And wear gloves for the dark pigments or your hands will end up like a coalmans.

Cheers for the replies Guys. You may have noticed from some of my previous posts that I am really tight so rather than bin in out of hand I think what I will do is a small test batch to see if it goes off and how long it takes etc.

Take your point timeless on the staining thing. I was going to seal the tiles before grouting will probably seal the tiles with a proprietary sealer first (saw it on you tube done like that) so should be ok but will also do a couple of test tiles first. Half of the tiles are black anyway so only need to worry about the red ones I guess.

I did a similar patern of quarry tiles i.e. red black alternating and used charcoal grout in my last house and it looked really nice.

The bag is 5 kg and the area only 3.5 m2 so I have loads to work with. Like the quote about it being out of date before I bought it......Really though I have looked at the bag thoroughly and really cannot find anything at all to indicate shelf life or use by date or even a batch number.

Wonder if they would give my money back on it.....

Bob Hope and no hope comes to mind

Originally Posted by whitebeam

Bob Hope and no hope comes to mind

I was ever the optimist whitebeam ..... will probably end up buying a new bag - I know that but - cor blimey - it's £12 after all - thats nearly 6 pints of john smiths smooth.....

Originally Posted by Ajax123

I was ever the optimist whitebeam ..... will probably end up buying a new bag - I know that but - cor blimey - it's £12 after all - thats nearly 6 pints of john smiths smooth.....

6 pints it's barely 3 down here

Originally Posted by Colour Republic

6 pints it's barely 3 down here

£2.05 a pint in my snooker club.....that's why IO drink so much - I am saving nearly £1.00 on every pint I have compared to the local pubs. Can save £10 some nights.....trouble is My Mrs does not seem to see it the same way...can't think why..

use sliver sand and cement will give you a better look. clean off with water allow to harden then clean with white spirits and boiled linseed oil 60- 40 , it will bring the colour out and seal the same time,
use a clean cloth to remove access and allow to harden been doing it for years and i have tried other methods but that just dont give you the same finish

AS FOR THE GROUT BIN IT